JNS
A nuclear Iran would threaten the entire Middle East, Israel's foreign minister said.
The danger of Iran gaining nuclear weapons is the greatest threat to Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told the press on Monday.
“The most crucial issue for the future of our region and the security of Israel is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said.
"The most important issue by far for the future of this region and the security of the State of Israel is to avoid Iran getting a nuclear weapon," Sa'ar stated, noting he was confident that Israel and the United States would work together to stabilize the region.
A nuclear Iran poses a threat to the entire region, he said.
"Iran attacks other neighbors, attacked the Saudis, for example. Iran is directly connected, financing and instructing and responsible for so many terror organizations, some of them became terror states in the region," he noted.
He said of Lebanon that it "belongs to the Lebanese, not to Iran," and that progress had been made in negotiations, but Hezbollah must be made to move "north of the Litani River" and not be allowed to rearm.
Sa'ar expressed flat-out opposition to the idea of a Palestinian state. "In a word: No,” he said. “The establishment of a Palestinian state today would be the establishment of a Hamas state.
"Everyone understands today that the two huge moves that Israel took in the past, the Oslo Accords in the 1990s and the unilateral [disengagement] withdrawal from the Gaza Strip a decade later, not only did not bring peace, but as we have seen, deteriorated our security," he said.
Sa'ar also condemned the antisemitic mob violence in Amsterdam on Nov. 7, and criticized the Dutch authorities, saying it "took too long for the Amsterdam police to restore order and that until this moment no significant arrests had been made for an event of this magnitude."
He said the Dutch accepted Israel's offer to collect testimonies from Israeli citizens who are back home.
Sa'ar recently paid a lightning visit to the Netherlands following the mass attack on Israeli fans, who were set upon by Muslims while visiting Amsterdam to attend a Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game.
On Sunday, Sa'ar gave his inaugural address at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, telling staff that they must always represent Israel with pride:
“Pride for what the Jewish people have given humanity for 4,000 years; pride in the steadfast and heroic stand of the State of Israel … at the forefront of the struggle against radical Islam, against barbarism, against evil,” he said.
Sa’ar described the government’s rescue operation to bring the Israeli citizens home safely and his decision to fly to the Netherlands to make sure the Dutch authorities were handling the “severe pogrom” appropriately.
He said he saw a direct line between the mob’s actions and the politicized legal proceedings against Israel by the international courts at The Hague, whose purpose is to deny Israel the right to self-defense.
“Delegitimizing Israel translates into dehumanizing every Israeli, every Jew,” the minister said. Scenes of rioters demanding passports and then attacking those who were Israeli are “scenes reminiscent of the kind we thought we would never see again.
“Antisemitism is today growing stronger across Europe and beyond. The old antisemitism targeted Jews, while the new antisemitism targets the Jewish state, making every Jew a target,” he said.
The newly minted foreign minister spoke of the importance of winning the information war, describing the situation as one for “consciousness,” meaning for hearts and minds. It’s a war waged in media and on social networks, Sa’ar said, “and we are at a disadvantage here, to put it mildly.
“It’s no secret that Israeli advocacy and awareness warfare has not received the resources and tools required for this campaign for decades, and I am determined to change that,” he said to applause from attending staff.
In agreeing to become foreign minister, Sa’ar said he demanded a significant budget increase of more than 500 million shekels (about $130 million) dedicated specifically to Israeli advocacy worldwide.
Sa’ar spoke of Israel’s desire to “expand the circle of peace” begun by the historic Abraham Accords. “I hope we will succeed in this regard with Saudi Arabia and other countries. We have not given up on this.”
He emphasized the importance of other minorities in the region, especially the Kurds, “one of the largest stateless nations,” whom he described as “our natural allies.
“They suffer from oppression and aggression from Iran and Turkey. We must reach out to them and strengthen our ties. There are both diplomatic and security dimensions to this. I am also closely following the Druze minority in neighboring countries,” he added.
In a nod to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, Sa’ar said, “We are going to make the Ministry of Foreign Affairs great again.”
Sa’ar replaces outgoing Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who has taken over from Yoav Gallant as head of the Defense Ministry.
